Sheryl's Four-footed Friends Site: Memorial to Past Friends: Troi

Memorial to Past Friends
Troi
my loving velcro boy
Troi

Troi: 1991-2007

1992

2007

Troi
portrait

Morgan left Valentine's Day 1992. Two days later a friend called about two gorgeous kittens in a shelter in Red Bank, NJ. They were 3 to 4 months old. I fell in love with Troi at first sight, and couldn't bear to separate him from his sister. So I took them both, ever after known as "the twins".

my velcro boy

They were both sick when I got them, but he had the worst of it. I had to give him pills, put stuff in his eyes, his ears, wash his butt and bathe him with anti-fungal for ring worm. While his sister hid in the basement, he was totally attached to me no matter the indignities he suffered from his treatments. Right from the beginning he got into the habit of sitting on the top of my chair while I worked at the computer. He was also the closest I've ever had to a ragdoll cat.
Sultan was still alive when they came into the family, and took them under his wing along with Phoenix.

the twins were initially inseparable

Troi Troi
Troi Troi

He always loved the piano. Such fun batting at that kitty reflecting back at him.

the twins

Troi loved Wolf and missed her terribly when she left in 2000. Both he and Phoenix used to tease Wolf by sitting next to one of her dog biscuits, just washing a paw and looking at her. Wolf also loved playing defend the bed with them. She'd try to defend all corners while the cats tried jumping on. Eventually, they'd all settle down and fall asleep together. If not with me, Troi was in whatever room Wolf inhabited. When she left, he rolled around in her scent for several days.
He tried getting along with Taylor, who merely tolerated the cats. He wanted to play and batted at her ears from the sofa whenever she walked by.

Troi Troi
Troi Troi

Troi was easy going and happy to get along with everyone. He and Phoenix always got along, although she spent more time with Deanna.
Brave Boy
He earned the nick name "brave boy" from my family. When they visited, especially when my nieces were younger, it took him awhile to come out, and he skittered away quite quickly when they moved around. We nick named my nieces "the axe murders" because that's what he acted like when they were around. He'd eventually settle down and join the family all full of confidence like nothing had ever happened.

He loved being on the back of my chair while I worked at my desk. He would sometimes body slam my neck or back just to be closer, or rest his head on my shoulder. He also "anticipated" a pat on the neck, arching his neck up to my hand. When I would hold him, he'd move his head and neck into my neck as far as he could. He was such a snuggle bunny.

Always a help in the office. I'll miss tussling for control of the keyboard, pen, notebook and the warmth of him on my arm.

Favorite spots

Troi was not a "character" like Phoenix or Sheba, he was sweet, steady and loving. As a result, there's not that many funny stories about him. But, here's a couple.
I'd left a department store shopping bag out (for the last time). In the middle of the night, I got slapped in the face with it as Troi ran across my bed. He'd gotten tangled in the handles. I went after him, and got almost all the way down the stairs and he flew back up the stairs. I headed back up, he headed back down. This Jerry Lewis scenario continued for a few minutes until he ran down the basement stairs. I shut that door behind me and found him in the corner of the crawlspace in a box and had a time getting him out, and untangled. The bag was shredded behind him. He didn't realize that the faster he went, the more noise it made and had him self quite scared.
Troi was famous for being very nonchalant when he miscalculated a jump onto the counter. He'd just stop the jump mid-air, drop down and try again. Well, he did this into Wolf's water bowl once and was very offended when I called "splash down". He sauntered off, cleaned himself up, jumped onto the counter and glared at me.
Mouser
Troi was around 10 by the time he caught his first mouse. He, Deanna and Taylor all had a mouse cornered in the kitchen. This 100lb dog flanked by 2 cats and the little mouse got on his hind legs and pawed at them. Took two days, but Troi finally got him. We got mice whenever it rained, so Troi got more and more capable. He initially "played" with them. I'll never forget seeing him leap from behind the sofa, jump over me with a mouse in his mouth. Yuck. After that, he just got good at dispatching them. Mouser extraordinaire!

With Sebastian

He tried to get Sebastian under control early, but didn't have the staying power of Phoenix.

Troi Troi

He did enjoy teasing him through the basement sliders :) Never got enough of that.

Troi Troi

For the longest time they had a relationship at the gate near the waterbowl. Sebastian made up for the slider door teasing.

Troi Troi

In the last year or so, they reached a rapprochement

Sebastian gently walking with Troi, two days before he passed.

With Cinnabar

Troi also had a gate relationship with Cinnabar. For all parties, there was always a peace treaty at the waterbowl. Sniffing allowed, but no antics.

They also had a mutual sniffing relationship.

With Deanna Troi

Early in their lives the twins were inseparable. When they were around 5, Deanna snubbed him and hung out with Phoenix. On rare occassions she'd get ticked with Phoe and would snuggle with her brother, maybe once a year. In his last weeks, Deanna went blind and suddenly her brother was perfect to snuggle with again.

Troi Troi

I'm going to miss his entrances via the stairs into the family room. He always had to look at me, as if to say, "here I come" before leaping down onto the sofa.

In 2006, Troi started getting thin. Thyroid surgery fixed that. He never quite regained his previous stature, but looked good. In October 2007 he started to get thin again. This time the prognosis wasn't so benign. He had cancer. At 16 years old, I didn't want to put him through "extreme measures". We made him comfortable. Through November he started to get more tired, and seemed to diminish before my eyes. He held to all his routines, his appetite was robust and he never ceased letting me know when it was 4pm (time to put down the canned food!). He got weaker and thinner in December, but held to his routines. Then on the 15th, he took a turn for the worse. He always slept on my hip every night, and even though weak, he made sure that he still did. The spark was out of his eyes, though. I took him to the vet, held him gently and said goodbye. He was very aware of me, but was ready to go.
It wasn't hard to do the right thing by him. It's just damn hard losing him. My sweet boy is gone. You don't realize how you rely on their sweetness and unconditional love on so many occasions during a day. How comforting to hear the near constant motor, or hear his little motored ow-ow cry to let me know he was there. 16 years is a good run, but it ain't forever and I still want forever.
I hear the airplanes buzzing overhead today, listen to the birds chirp, the sound of occasional traffic. All normal sounds, but not normal today, my first day without Troi. It seems like the rest of the world should stop and break routine to recognize his passing. It doesn't happen, of course. With time, the pain will ease and the tears won't flow so freely, I know this. It's a small price, actually, for 16 years of unconditional love, but hurts deeply.
There's a TNG episode, aptly named "Too Short A Season". An admiral is dying and calls his wife "Annie with the golden hair". She says "Flatterer, it's gray now". He says, "I see only the gold". No matter how Troi looked in his last months, I saw only the gold. Here's how his beautiful, sweet face will forever be in my mind.

"I only see the gold"